Encounter Tampa Bay brings the Catholic community and the wider community together each year for an opportunity to explore important questions about faith, culture, and the human experience. Through presentations, conversations, panel discussions, the event invites us to encounter new ideas, engage in meaningful dialogue, and discover how faith speaks to the world around us.
You‘re Invited to Attend!
3rd Annual Encounter Tampa Bay
Saturday, October 3, 2026
Event begins at 2pm
At St. Petersburg Catholic High School (Directions)
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About Encounter Tampa Bay 2026
We live in an age of ever-increasing distractions that obscure our awareness of what makes us truly human.
Together, let us heed Pope Leo XIV’s timely call to safeguard our human nature, create a culture that helps us flourish, and live our “Magnificent Humanity”.
Join us for an afternoon of presentations, discussions, and encounters.
This event is free and open to the public. Registration is encouraged.
PRESENTATION
Pope Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas
Explore Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, which reflects on human dignity and the common good in an age increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. Fr. Ralph D’Elia will offer an introduction to the document and invite us to consider what it means to protect and promote what is truly human in a rapidly changing technological world.
Presenter: Fr. Ralph D’Elia, Priests Secretary and Master of Ceremonies, and Chaplain, St. Petersburg Catholic High School
PANEL DISCUSSION
How Can Technology Serve, or Undermine, the Deep Needs of the Human Heart?
Artificial intelligence and other technologies are transforming how we work, learn, communicate, and live. But what happens when technology begins to shape not only what we do, but how we understand ourselves and one another? A diverse panel of experts will explore the opportunities and challenges technology presents and consider how we can ensure it serves the human person rather than the other way around.
Panelists: Christine Rosen, American Enterprise Institute; Lily Abadal, philosopher, applied ethicist and educational consultant, University of South Florida; Carlos Crestana, AI Product Manager, Disney World; and Alberto Desimoni, Assistant Professor of Classics, North Carolina State University.
EXHIBIT
All or Nothing: The Story of Sister Clare Crockett
Discover the remarkable story of Sister Clare Crockett through this biographical documentary film. The 2018 film follows a vibrant young Irish woman who left behind her dreams of an acting career and Hollywood fame to embrace a completely different calling: becoming a Catholic religious sister. Her story offers a moving reflection on vocation, sacrifice, joy, and the search for a life of deeper meaning.
Questions? Please contact us at: CommunionAndLiberationTB@gmail.com
Organized by Communion and Liberation, an ecclesial movement of the Catholic Church.